Cultural references

The toy, Funzo, is a parody of the popular Furby dolls (although the Furby dolls were mentioned in the story line as an example of a popular toy).

Gary Coleman once worked as a security guard in real life. Coleman spoofed Arnold's (Coleman's character in Diff'rent Strokes) catchphrase, "Wha'choo talkin' 'bout, Willis?", three times.

At the end, the narrator says Mr. Burns was visited by three ghosts in the night which showed him the error of his ways, a homage to A Christmas Carol.

The narrator also says that Moe, in his annual suicide attempt, was shown what the world would be like without him after sticking his head in his oven. This is a reference to the 1946 film It's a Wonderful Life.

When Bart and Lisa discovers that Funzo is programmed to destroy other toys to eliminate competition, Bart commented, "You mean, like Microsoft?", which is a reference to the corporate takeovers conducted by Microsoft in the 1990s to eliminate competition.